


that's just the way you make me feel

by let_me_in



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, F/F, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 07:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15505665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/let_me_in/pseuds/let_me_in
Summary: Cursed. Cursed for eternity. She should’ve seen it coming. What did she expect, challenging a goddess to a beauty contest?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The woman got closer, and Hyunjin saw that her eyes were cloudy. She was blind.





	that's just the way you make me feel

**Author's Note:**

> I played fast and loose with Greek mythology. Hyunjin has Medusa's curse with Arachnea's backstory (modified). 
> 
> Thank you to @honeygowon for beta-ing!

Cursed. Cursed for eternity. She should’ve seen it coming. What did she expect, challenging a goddess to a beauty contest?

But Hyunjin has always been one to jump first, and only check the depth as she was falling. Usually, the impact on hitting the water wasn’t so bad, and would pass eventually. This time, the damage was permanent.

Hyunjin got used to it. The snakes kept her company as best they could, but it wasn’t the same as when she could mingle with humans. The people that did come around...they didn’t last long. Loneliness and solitude simply became the order of the day, every day, for the rest of her life.

Or so she thought.

Hyunjin was looking at herself in the pool one day when she heard someone stumbling through the bushes by the garden entrance. She turned to look at the entrance, not concerned by the intrusion. Her snakes tensed up at the sound. Although they’d had plenty of opportunities to get used to this sort of thing, they always seemed to resent any interruption of the usual calm and quiet they lived in.

Hyunjin heard the woman’s voice before she saw her. She was cursing and wincing as she progressed. She broke twigs and crushed leaves underfoot without any care for how loud she was being. Despite her volume, Hyunjin couldn’t pick out any specific words the woman was saying until she entered the garden.

The woman stumbled in, completely unaware of Hyunjin. How was that possible?

Hyunjin cleared her throat.

The woman turned to face her. “Hello! Do you live here? Do you mind if I stay here for a while?”

There was something different about her. She didn’t seem intimidated or afraid of Hyunjin at all.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

The woman got closer, and Hyunjin saw that her eyes were cloudy. She was blind.

“Yes, I can hear you.”

The woman jumped a little, startled. “Then why didn’t you say anything before?”

“You surprised me.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I have nowhere else to go, and I didn’t know if anybody lived here.”

_ Really?  _ Usually Hyunjin’s reputation preceded her. How did this woman not know about her? “I live here.”

“Yeah, I got that. Can I stay here?”

The snakes hissed angrily.

“Ooh, are those snakes?”

_ Why wasn’t she scared?  _ The snakes even stopped hissing, shocked by her reaction. “Yeah, those are snakes.”

“How many? I couldn’t count them all. Their hissing blended together really well.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Hyunjin could see a few of the snakes preening over the woman’s praise.

“Twenty-seven.”

“Wow! How do you keep track of them all?”

“I...don’t.”

“ _ What? _ So you lose them?”

Hyunjin grimaced. “That’s not exactly possible.”

The woman’s expression grew puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Hyunjin pursed her lips. “They’re...quite attached to me.”

“If you say so! Maybe I could help you take care of them?”

Oh, right. She was looking for a place to stay. Hyunjin had forgotten.

“You don’t need to do that, but you can stay here.”

A wide grin stretched over the woman’s face. It was the most beautiful thing Hyunjin had seen in quite a while.

“Thank you so much. I really-”

“It’s no problem...”

“Heejin!”

Hyunjin shook the hand  _ Heejin  _ had extended. “Hyunjin.”

——————————————————————————————————————

“How big is this place?”

“I never measured it.”

“Wow.”

Heejin put her hands everywhere. Hyunjin just watched her.

“Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“Yeah. Tell me about yourself.”

Well. That was a big question. Hyunjin pursed her lips. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“ _ Everything? _ ”

“Okay. Fine. Where’d you get the snakes?”

_ Might as well tell her.  _

“Yves.”

Heejin gasped. “You know  _ Yves _ ?”

Hyunjin grimaced. “Not exactly.”

Heejin paused, and when Hyunjin didn’t say anything, she sat down. She was clearly prepared to wait.

“I said I was prettier than the goddess of beauty, so she cursed me.”

“Cursed you how?”

“...she made me ugly.”

Heejin turned to Hyunjin. “Well,  _ I _ think you’re beautiful.”

Hyunjin scoffed. “Thanks.”

“No, really! You have one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard, and you seem really nice.”

_ She really didn’t know… _

“One look in my eyes, and humans turn to stone.”

Heejin adjusted her head, and Hyunjin realized Heejin was trying to match her eyes. Hyunjin walked over and put her hands on either Heejin’s face. Gently, she turned Heejin until they were eye to eye.

“Wow. I guess I’m stone.”

Hyunjin couldn’t help it. She cracked up. She had to let go of Heejin to hold her stomach. She heard Heejin snorting too. So  _ cute. _

Eventually, they both caught their breath. 

“You never answered my question.”

“What?”

“How’d you get the snakes?”

Hyunjin sighed. “They’re part of the curse. They’re my hair.”

Heejin’s eyes widened. “Wow. So that’s how you have twenty-seven of them.”

Hyunjin chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Heejin smiled. “I can’t wait to meet them all.”

There was something about Heejin’s tone that, despite herself, made Hyunjin genuinely believe her.

——————————————————————————————————————

“How long have you been-”

“Twenty years.”

Hyunjin saw Heejin’s grip on the broom tighten, her jaw clench.

“You don’t have t-”

“I was six. I was…stupid. I saw a snake in the grass and I-I tried to trap it. I wanted it as a pet. So it spat in my eyes. I never...I’d never hurt that much before. I thought I was dying. My parents thought so too.”

Heejin paused to sniff. Hyunjin didn’t say anything. The snakes, thankfully, were silent.

“We tried...everything. The healer said I should be grateful to be alive. The priest said it was my arrogance that got me blinded. I should’ve...I should’ve considered the snake. I shouldn’t have just used it to make myself happy.”

Hyunjin reached out, but Heejin pulled away.

“My parents...took care of me after that. I wasn’t allowed...anywhere. It was weeks before I got to leave the house again. They were so scared. And I get it. But I was still a kid. I wanted to play, and run, and explore.”

“When I finally… _ finally _ , got to go outside, I was followed. Every time. Usually my mom. Sometimes she hired someone. We couldn’t afford that. I started staying inside so my mom could work. She wouldn’t let me help much. It was so annoying. I spent years bored out of my mind. It wasn’t like I had any friends visiting, or boys asking for my hand. I was just...there.I just sat around. I couldn’t  _ do  _ anything.”

Hyunjin reached her hand out, and again, Heejin moved away.

“My dad died a few years ago. The healer said it was fatigue. My mom...she finally let me start helping her. We got by, somehow. She died too. The healer said it was just her time, but I think it was hunger. We were always hungry. I got used to it, but I guess she was too old…” Heejin stopped, her voice shaky. She blinked rapidly. Was she trying not to cry?

“There was nothing keeping me there. So I left. Took all the money and food I could find and just started walking.”

“And now you’re here,” Hyunjin said softly. She gasped and covered her mouth. She hadn’t meant to talk. She didn’t want to interrupt Heejin. It just slipped out.

But Heejin smiled. “Now I’m here.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to push-”

“No, it’s good. It was good to get it all out. Thank you.”

Heejin resumed sweeping, and Hyunjin knew that was the end of that.

——————————————————————————————————————

“So you  _ really  _ didn’t know about me?”

“Well…not exactly.”

Hyunjin waited for Heejin to continue. It took a minute of silence from everyone, including the snakes, but she did.

“People tried to warn me. They told me…there was something dangerous, over here. They said I’d get hurt. But people are always saying I’ll get hurt. It didn’t seem any different this time. I mean, it kinda did. But I didn’t care. I had nowhere else to go. You know I almost ran out of food and money before I got here. I just kinda figured, what do I have to lose?”

Hyunjin didn’t say anything. This was the first time she’d heard of someone looking for her so they could die. In fairness, this was the first time she’d ever really talked to a human since she’d been cursed. Even so, a part of Hyunjin wondered how many people had decided to end their time by looking into her eyes.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m very glad you came.”

Heejin turned toward Hyunjin. “Me too.”

Something came over Hyunjin, and she pulled Heejin into a hug. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Hyunjin felt Heejin hug her back. Heejin’s grip was tight. “Thanks.”

——————————————————————————————————————

“Can I pet your snakes?”

Hyunjin froze.  _ What?  _ She must’ve misheard her.

“What did you say?”

“C-can I pet your snakes?” Heejin’s voice faltered.

No one had ever asked that before. Then again, Heejin was constantly doing things no one had ever done before.

“I’ll ask them.” Heejin looked left and right at the snakes she could spot in her peripheral vision. “Hiss for no.”

Silence. Okay, this was really happening.

Hyunjin crossed the short distance to Heejin and took her hand by the wrist. Slowly, she brought up Heejin’s hand to her head, and let go.

Heejin’s fingers stroked slowly and carefully along the snakes’ spines. Hyunjin felt them relax, one by one, as Heejin moved her hand across Hyunjin’s head. Hyunjin felt herself relax too, and she closed her eyes.

“Hello, lovelies,” Heejin crooned. “So nice to meet you.”

Nobody had ever done that before. Nobody had ever called her snakes “lovely.” That thought didn’t even occur to Hyunjin. She’d always thought they were horrible, but when Heejin said they were lovely, Hyunjin genuinely believed her.

“What are their names?”

“They don’t have any,” Hyunjin said. She’d never even thought of naming them.

“Ohhh,” Heejin said, still petting them. “I guess I’ll just have to name you all myself, huh?”

Hyunjin felt one of the snakes nod under Heejin’s finger.

Hyunjin felt so content. She accidentally leaned forward a little too much, and found herself hitting Heejin. Her eyes flew open in time to see Heejin stumble backwards a few steps before catching herself.

“Sorry. I guess I got too comfortable.”

“It’s okay.” Heejin smiled. “I’m glad I could make you feel that way.”

——————————————————————————————————————

“I know I’ve said this before, but you’re the only one I’ve ever met who’s never babied me.”

Hyunjin shrugged. “Why would I?” Heejin had made it clear from day one that she resented being treated like she was about to break, but Hyunjin had never really had any reason to think of her like that.

Tears formed in Heejin’s eyes. “You mean that?”

“I mean that.”

Heejin surged forward and hugged Hyunjin. Before she knew what was happening, Heejin’s lips were on hers.

It was….really nice. Heejin’s lips were soft and sweet and they fit so perfectly on Hyunjin’s. She never wanted to let go of this feeling.

Heejin pulled away before Hyunjin wanted her to. “I’m sorry-”

“No.” Hyunjin pulled Heejin back in. She didn’t want apologies. She didn’t want to talk. This was everything she didn’t know she’d needed, and wanted, and Heejin was  _ not _ going to waste her time apologizing for improving Hyunjin’s life a thousandfold.

After what felt like forever, and no time at all, Heejin pulled away again. Oh, right. She needed to breathe.

“So,” Heejin panted.

“So,” Hyunjin said.

Heejin smiled, and Hyunjin knew everything was gonna be okay.

——————————————————————————————————————


End file.
